The expelled jesuits: the community and the individuals. The chilean province

Authors

  • Eduardo Cavieres F. Profesor Titular, Universidad de Chile

Abstract

The Jesuit expulsion in 1767 has a large and well documented literature. In particular, much has been written about its political and economic causes and consequences. Vargas and Hanisch (Jesuit Fathers) give a substantial explanation about the cases of the Provinces of Peru and Chile. In this article, I build upon their works, but I revisit the large number of volumes belonging to the Jesuit archive -deposited at the Archivo Nacional de Chile (Chilean National Archive) to complement and provide an original analysis from both a collective and individual standpoint. This work is not an ecclesiastical history, but rather points to demographical, social and cultural contexts and facts, as well as reminds, although in an indirect way, about the evident damage that the Spanish Crown suffered because of the expulsion of men that belonged not only to a Religious Order, but were also members of important creoles families on which the loyalties of the system were based.

Keywords:

Jesuits, Chilean Province, Jesuit expulsion, experiences